Craig Finn, frontman for the Hold Steady, had a classic-rock epiphany five years ago as he jammed with some friends in Brooklyn: "We were doing 'Back in Black' and 'Jailbreak,' and we were like, 'Wait, these riffs sound great!'" he says.

Bristling at the Rapture-style dance rock that was beginning to dominate his trendy Williamsburg neighborhood, Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler -- who played bass for their previous band together, the arty indie act Lifter Puller -- decided to commit hipster heresy. They founded the Hold Steady, who back Finn's hoarse, shouted-word delivery of his novelistic lyrics with utterly uncool bar-band rockin' that's not afraid to evoke Thin Lizzy.

"The Replacements were a bar band too," says Finn, who caught early 'Mats shows as a teenager in their shared hometown of Minneapolis. "And certainly the E Street Band was." Finn cites Bruce Springsteen as a major influence on his grimy, word-stuffed story-songs, which come complete with recurring characters such as Holly the Hoodrat and Charlemagne. "On Springsteen's first three albums, he has so much to say, he can't get the words out fast enough sometimes," says Finn, who also names Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and poet-rocker Jim Carroll (who seems to have shaped Finn's vocal style) as inspirations. "There's a lot of joy there, and if nothing else, I hope we can capture some of that. When we play, there's so much happiness and love and excitement, and I think it's very contagious to our audience."

The Hold Steady's 2004 debut, Almost Killed Me, unexpectedly landed in the top forty of the Village Voice's Pazz and Jop poll, and their new second album, Separation Sunday, is grabbing college-radio play with the uncharacteristically melodic single "Your Little Hoodrat Friend." "It was written to be deliberately more poppy," says Finn. And unlike most of the band's rambling songs, "Hoodrat" actually has a chorus: "Usually when I get inspired, I have a lot to say, and I don't want to say the same thing twice."

[From Issue 979 — July 28, 2005]